Carbon Capture, Hydrogen, and Nuclear among other Corporate Welfare Funding Allowed for Dirty Oil, Gas and Nuclear through House Ways & Means Committee as Reconciliation Process Proceeds

Washington, D.C. – Last night the House Ways & Means Committee completed drafting its reconciliation funding bill that sets out the budget associated with Congressional Democrats’ Build Back Better Act. The bill overlooks ending existing subsidies to the domestic fossil fuel industry, while extending funding for:

• A subsidy enacted in 1916 (Sections 263(c) and 291) allowing many fossil fuel producers to deduct 100 percent of many costs associated with extraction;
• A subsidy enacted in 1926 (Sections 611 through 613A and 291) that allows many producers to deduct 15 percent of gross income annually, which often results in a deduction greater than the value of actual assets;
• A tax credit for carbon capture (Section 45Q), an unrealized, faulty technological process that is falsely characterized by the industry as a solution to toxic climate emissions.

Tom Goldtooth, Executive Director of the Indigenous Environmental Network stated: 

“Ending all fossil fuel subsidies is a top line strategy to end the climate crisis. One of the key solutions for building a just transition is to shift fossil fuel funding to Indigenous, Black, Brown, and other people of color communities confronting climate and environmental injustice. By failing to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies, Chairman Neal and the Ways and Means Committee are ensuring billions of dollars of public money to flow to the biggest polluters on the planet at the expense of Indigenous Peoples rights, livelihoods, and well being. On behalf of our communities, all life, Mother Earth, and future generations, it is imperative that we stop the egregious cycle of corporate welfare for fossil fuels, end fossil fuel subsidies, and Keep It In The Ground!